Chapters - well versed

Brockley Central loves a good walk and often eschews public transport in favour of a hearty weekend stroll to a foodie destination, if only as an excuse to order extra pies at the other end of the trip. Regular destinations include Lordship Lane (usually Franklins), Greenwich (The Rivington and/or the Picture House) and, on particularly worthy days, Borough Market.

Often, routes are selected via the usually reliable walkit.com, although the 'urban walking route planner' rather blotted its copybook this past weekend. Having previously provided a 'low pollution' route to Borough via various pleasant corners of South East London including Southwark Park and a good stretch of the Thames Path, on Saturday it spat out a route that wasn't so much low-pollution as low-will-to-live: there can't have been many Rotherhithe sink estates not touched by this particular route. Next time intstructions will be treated with a bit more skepticism. Old fashioned maps may even be consulted. No matter: a restorative coffee in the rather lovely Blueprint Café quickly dispelled the gloom.

Another occasional destination for these weekend jaunts is Blackheath, which not only boasts an excellent farmers' market in the station car park every Sunday but also has a very decent crop of restaurants. Alongside the compulsory Pizza Express and Café Rouge are some real gems, including Bella Vista (top quality Italian that will provide stiff competition for Le Querce, whose second branch has opened a few doors up the hill) and Buenos Aires Café which until recently must have thought the local steak crown was its for eternity.

That this may no longer be the case is down to its near neighbour Chapters raising the stakes (as it were) by shipping in a Josper grill. A Josper is a fiercely hot charcoal grill designed for serious meat grilling and (along with careful sourcing and some knockout cocktails) is the reason Hawksmoor remains such a favourite for an occasional treat.

The Chapters steak experience, though, will have to wait. Yesterday was all about brunch, a meal surely written into the restaurant's DNA: oversized, single-sheet menu of international breakfast classics? Check. Slick, dark furniture? Check. Mostly slick, darkly-clad staff? Check.

Happily, for the most part at least, Chapters delivers on its brunchy promise. Eggs florentine were a little sweet, perhaps, and the baked beans from the full English were pointlessly served in a separate ramekin, but these are minor quibbles. The breakfast itself was faultless, orange juice was properly fresh, tea and coffee were both good.

Chapters may yet prove to be worth a special trip from Brockley, particularly if they're buying meat to match the quality of the grill they've invested in. For now, it's a perfectly good local restaurant in a location ideally suited for its All Day Dining mantra.

And the walk's not bad either.